Earthquake Of Magnitude 6.9 Hits Solomon Islands

By Meena KarJune 26, (THAINDIAN NEWS) According to the latest reports, a 6.9 magnitude of earthquake shook the underwater off the coast of the Solomon Island on Saturday evening. The quake took place at around 4:30 pm.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said to media sources that the underwater quake took place at a depth of 35 kilometers off the southwest coast of Kira Kira and 206 kilometers southeast of the Pacific nation’s capital Honiara. The USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) had initially said that the quake could be of a magnitude of 7.1 Richter.

The quake although created panic among the citizens at first, no tsunami alerts were given. There has been no report of any kind of damage or casualty as well. Some USGS officials claimed that strong tremors of the earthquake were felt at the capital of Kira Kira that lies 200 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake.

The Saturday Solomon earthquake is being called by many as one of the strongest earthquakes that has been felt in Honiara since the past decade. Panic stricken families were seen fleeing their homes and coming out on the streets to save themselves. After the earthquake, a bulletin was issued by The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center that said “no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data”.

However the bulletin also mentioned that earthquake of such magnitudes can sometimes lead to local tsunamis that can be destructive. The areas in such case to get affected are the coastal areas that are located within 100 kilometers of the epicenter of the earthquake.